Toledo elementary student saves family from house fire

TOLEDO, Ohio — Hiawatha Elementary student Landon Kelley became a local hero on Monday when he saved his family from a house fire.

Landon, a second-grader, explained how he quickly alerted his parents to the fire at their home on Muirfield Avenue in south Toledo.

“I said, ‘Fire fire.’ Then, my brother got out of his bed and my stepmom saw the fire, then I woke up my father,” he said.

Landon’s father, Jason Kelley, recounted the events, saying, “It was quite a shock for me on a Sunday. I actually woke up pretty early about 9 (a.m.). My appointment for the day had canceled, so, we’ll lounge around and have a family day, we’ll relax. I’m on my phone and all of a sudden these two come stampeding down the hallway, and they’re like, ‘Daddy, daddy, there’s a fire.’”

In another heroic act, Landon noticed his little brother had run back into the house. Without hesitation, he ran back inside and rescued him.

Jason credits their family’s emergency plan for the quick response, emphasizing the importance of knowing what to do in the case of a fire and having working smoke alarms.

“The fire department kept repeating to us that had another five minutes gone by, we would have lost everything,” he said.

In recognition of his bravery, Hiawatha Elementary School awarded Landon the “Super Hero Kid” award.

“We’ve taught them a lot about fire safety,” Jason added. “This is actually the second time Landon has saved my life. He called 911 about a year and a half ago when I had my first heart attack.”

The family is now focusing on recovering from the emotional impact of the fire and they’re thankful for Landon’s bravery.

“It made me happy and he got an award and that made me so proud of him and I really love him so much because he saved us,” said Zayden Kelley, Landon’s brother.

The fire is being investigated as an electrical fire that started outside of the house.